Cooling tower support grids are used to support splash bars which span across a cooling tower, so that the splash bars do not sag. The splash bars are offset both vertically and horizontally, so that water droplets falling vertically from near the top of the cooling tower will invariably strike one or more of the splash bars during descent. Large water droplets are broken into smaller water droplets upon striking one of the splash bars. As many water droplets strike the splash bars, a thin film of water tends to form on each splash bar which increases the surface area of water exposed to air.
There is a tendency for splash bars to become dislodged due to impingement by water from above, forced air flow from below and vibration caused by fans used to circulate air within the cooling tower. To guard against the splash bars becoming dislodged, the splash bars are commonly secured to the support grid by clips.
An example of a support grid is U.S. Pat. No. 4,178,333 (Shepherd). Examples of splash bars are U.S. Pat. No. 4,663,092 (Kinney Jr. et al) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,454,987 (Cornwell Jr.). Examples of clips are U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,034 (Fritz) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,868,956 (Shepherd).